Will

"Looks like it's suppose to snow tomorrow" I say to no one in particular

Thea, Kari, Stella and I are sitting around the girl's tv in their common room watching an episode of Black Mirror; the episode with Miley Cyrus. The little robot is currently asking Rachel for help. 

Everyone else already left campus for break but the four of us are stuck here a little bit longer. At least they are, the last place I want to be is back home with my mess of a family. Since Alana is going to Florida with one of her friends I decided to stay here, telling them I have a game this week. It's not like they attend any of my games anyways so they wouldn't know that I lied. 

"I don't mean to be a dick but shhh Will! I missed what Ashley said just now!" Kari exclaims taking the remote out of Quinn's hand and rewinding the scene she couldn't hear

"Jeez Kari, you could've said that nicer!" Stella says wacking her head with a pillow on their futon

"Sorry, I just get really caught up in this show." Kari says sheepishly 

"It's fine." I chuckle, god knows I've heard ruder shit from my Dad

Next to me under her fluffy throw blanket that we're currently sharing, Thea looks over to read the forecast from her spot next to me, looking disappointed.

"Sorry, T. I know how much you wanted to see your family."

She leans back against the cushion and closes her eyes and sighs.

"It's okay, I kind of expected this. Maybe it'll clear up enough but the buses stop running the day before Thanksgiving and I don't want my parents to drive out here if it's icy." 

The sadness in her voice makes me feel bad for her. She's been telling me all about how her family makes a wide variety of Asian and American dishes for Thanksgiving and how its one of her favorite holidays.

"I can drive you home if anything. I'll be around." I tell her with a shrug. Keeping my voice down so that I don't get yelled at by Kari again.

"I can't make you do that. I don't want to take advantage of you for your car. I know how annoying that can be when people use you just because you have a car." 

Living on campus with a bunch of carless students sometimes makes people constantly ask you to borrow your car or give you a ride, I don't mind driving Thea anywhere though. 

"Chan, I really don't mind. I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to do it."

As soon as the words leave my mouth I can see how excited she gets. Her brown eyes immediately shift from being upset to happy with anticipation. 

"Oh my god, you're the best Will!" She exclaims and throws her arms around my waist hugging me tight

"Thea! I missed another part!" Kari yells again, throwing some popcorn at Thea while Stella rolls her eyes

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It's Thanksgiving day and I'm currently driving en route to Thea's house with her sitting besides me and fiddling with the music. The roads thankfully cleared up last minute today and although it's already getting dark, we should make it just in time according to my gps's ETA. 

She mentioned that Thanksgiving isn't very formal in her household where it's more buffet style and her family eats whenever and wherever they want around her house. Completely opposite from my family where our family chef makes everything for us and we all have an assigned seat in our too big dining room. 

Conversations between my family are conservative and there's no room for cracking jokes or any "rowdy subjects" as my Dad claims; such as basketball. Most of the time conversations revolve around my Dad's job or it's a passive aggressive competition between my Aunt's and Uncles and my parents. Who has made more money, who has a better car and what not.

"Soo before we get there I should probably mention that you'll be meeting basically my entire family including my extended family. My parents aren't the friendliest when it comes to boyfriends, not that I told them that you're my boyfriend but because you're a guy, you're guilty by association. My grandma will probably love you though because she loves everyone and my aunt's will interrogate you and-" 

"Relax, you're fine. Stop worrying about me." I cut off her rambling 

"I can't help it. I have a big nosey family and I want them to like you because I appreciate you and everything that you do for me." She says softly with a faint blush on her cheeks 

I've never heard her say anything so tender to me, hell no one has said they've appreciated me before.

My eyes soften as I quickly look at her, "I appreciate you too, Chan. Our friendship is important to me. Plus, who doesn't like me?" I joke trying to ease some of her anxiety

"Fine, I guess I'll admit that you're a fan favorite. I see how much people adore you."

"A lot of the time it's fake. Some people only approach me for my status on campus, girls and guys either want tickets to the game, a hookup- not that I'm complaining about that but it would be nice if they actually got to know me once in a while like you've been doing. Plus, my family is pretty wealthy and my Dad is well known in his career so sometimes they want me to put in a recommendation to my Dad."

I can feel Thea's eyes looking at me with sympathy. 

"That's not true. I've seen people genuinely excited to meet you not only because you're an amazing basketball player but also because you have the kind of personality everyone feels comfortable around. You just ooze confidence but you're not a huge dick about it." She responds 

"How do you know I'm good at basketball, huh? I thought you weren't into sports." I say with a twitch of my eyebrow

"Oh shut up, I may not really get into it but I hear about you a lot and judging from the guys in my class who speak very well about you; begrudgingly so since they're jealous about you and the attention you get from the women, I know you're great at it and that- like you've mentioned before will most likely get drafted senior year."

"I've said I hope to get drafted. Not that I know."

"Please, you know you will. Stop being actually humble for once." She responds with a wave of her hand as if she's brushing me off 

When I told her our friendship is important to me, I truly meant it. I've had to give her my fair share of pep talks a few times before, not to mention the intervention that her roommates and I had for her because she's so hard on herself when it comes to school even though she's the most intelligent person that I know. But the complete confidence she has in me makes me proud of myself during these moments. 

I know I work hard but her voicing these things makes it more assuring to myself. My family other than Alana has never been supportive to me and most of my friends play basketball themselves so we're all in the same boat when it comes to complimenting how we all play. Thea is blindly supportive towards me despite her not knowing a thing about basketball. I hope that she feels equally assured the same way when I tell her how smart she is and how hard she's been working herself. 

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"Here it is." Thea says with a yawn. I told her to take a nap on our way here but she refused to and declared that she wanted to stay awake and keep me company during the drive.

As I'm parking on a side street since her driveway is filled up she says "I just realized how late it might be by the time you leave. You should stay the night even though my Dad might have a heartattack about a boy staying over." 

"No worries, I booked a hotel nearby just in case. I didn't want to impose on your family. Especially with your parents being so strict."

"No way, stay here in our guest room. You driving me here in time for dinner should get you into some of their good graces. I don't care if they don't like it, they'll just have to deal with it and if not, we can stay at my cousin's place." 

I sigh, "Thea, I want your family to like me too. I can't just stay in their own home against their will."

"Just trust me, okay? Cancel your hotel reservations please."

"Fine."

As we walk up the short pathway to her house the front door is flung open and a lady with a bob is waving to us with excitement.

"Hi TT! How was your trip here?" She says giving Thea a bear hug 

"Not too bad. Some roads weren't cleared up as well as others but it was still a good trip. Auntie, this is Will, my friend from school." Thea introduces

"Hello, it's nice to meet you." I say, unsure if I should give her aunt a hug or shake her hand. The slight hesitation is obvious so she then encircles her arms around my body. Despite her being shorter than Thea she gives a fierce hug. 

I'm not normally this nervous around meeting adults like this. I've met Devon and Quinn's parents but meeting Thea's family is more nerve wracking because of how much she loves her family. She's spoken about how much she adores them and how she's close to them countless times. 

"Come in, come in! It's freezing out here!"

Just as we finish taking off our shoes and placing our jackets into the closet in the entry way, an older woman with short frizzy and wavy hair approaches us.

"Hi, Yay!" Thea says, immediately getting close to her and facing her cheek into the lady who must be her Grandma for a kiss. 

"Hi Sweetie." She says, in a heavy accent. Her Grandma then gives her a fat kiss/sniff on the cheek. Her love for her granddaughter, very obvious with the beam on her face. 

"Yay, this is my friend Will from school. He drove us here since it was snowing a lot and I couldn't take the bus." Thea, says 

"Hello, it's nice to meet you too." I say, going in for a hug since Thea's aunt gave me one but instead of hugging me back she also gives me the same fat kiss/sniff on the cheek that she gave Thea. I'm shocked by the sudden affection, not that I dislike it. It's not something I'm use to around my own family or in general really. 

Her Yay then walks a way with a "Come eat, there's a lot of food!"

Looking over at Thea with a questioning face I catch her with a huge grin on her face.

"I told you that she would love you."

My heart warms and all I can think about is how happy I am to be here with her, someone I've known for mere months instead of my own family whom I've known my entire life.